Before, Detroit’s Danny Brown and Philadelphia’s Santigold took the stage at Groovin’, Baton Rouge’s Ship of Fools opened the show with its folk rock tunes.
Comprised of four University students, the band sat down with The Daily Reveille to talk about its experience at Groovin’ and what was to come in the future.
The Daily Reveille: Y’all are performing tonight because you won Battle of the Bands. Tell me a little bit about that.
Lead Singer Ashley Monaghan: That was really fun. It was kind of crazy because it was raining the day of, so we played second and right before the rain started, so we had to come to a second event and wait a little longer so it was kind of more gruelling because we thought we’d find out that day. But, we didn’t find out for like another two weeks. But, it was really fun and it was the first time we competed I think for a title of any sort or whatever, and we, I don’t know, we didn’t really expect to win. There was a lot of really good bands that were there so. But, we’re super glad that we did and we’re super glad that we’re here because this is awesome.
TDR: How did you pick your set list for tonight?
Cellist Raudol Palacios: Well with the time that they gave us, [we had] a lot of time … We want to do a set that will pump up the crowd, so we picked more or less upbeat songs…
TDR: You’re releasing an album in May?
AM: Late May.
TDR: Tell me a little bit, what’s the sound of the album? What can fans expect?
AM: We’re going to be planning some of the songs that are going to be featured on it tonight. But, I think it’s going to be a little more of a mixture of things. We’re playing a lot of upbeat stuff, but on the it’s going to be one of our slowest, saddest songs will be on the album. And then we’re going to have an upbeat song. So, I think it’s a good mixture and it’s going to be put in order of very storytelling.
RP: We’re just trying to show what we can do.
AM: Yeah, it’s a good array…
TDR: How is playing the PMAC different from other venues? Because this is a bit challenging right?
AM: I don’t know about challenging, it’s just scary as hell … When we played Battle of the Bands, the stage was really big, and it was really fun. Northgate Fest was big and fun, and I think we have a lot of fun on bigger stages, especially me because I get to have a handheld mic and run around where usually I’m tied to something. But, this is terrifying and this is like 3,000 people here, and we’ve never played in front of that many people before. So, I think it’s just nerve wracking. And [the crowd] is coming expecting hip hop music and stuff, and that’s not exactly our sound. So, I’m hoping that we can woo them in a good way…
TDR: What was your first reaction when you heard you were opening for Danny Brown and Santigold?
AM: It was so funny because I didn’t see it at all and so someone commented on my Facebook profile, and was like, “holy curse word, I can’t believe y’all are opening for Danny Brown and Santigold.” And I was like, “What is he talking about?” And then I saw the announcement, and I think we all collectively freaked out. Especially because Santigold is queen bae forever. What a boss lady. And she might see us, you know? That’s just crazy. But yeah, we’re all freaking out right now. All of our hearts are pumping very, very fast.
TDR: And then you’re going on tour this summer?
AM: Mhm.
TDR: So how has, first of all, performing at Groovin’, but all the other [concert] dates before that, how is it preparing you for this big summer tour?
Guitarist Michael Blount: …It’ll be our first tour which we’re nervous about because it’ll probably be our first experience with playing to five people in a city we’ve never played before, you know? So it’s going to be new to us, but we’re excited about it. We’re just doing the east coast, all the way to New York…
Ship of Fools recently released “Live Cajon Sessions” which can be found on Band Camp.